Bugai Whyoulter – Telstra General Painting Award

Bugai is a Kartujarra woman and a senior custodian of the lands surrounding Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route Well 33).

She was born in the 1940s at Pukayiyirna, on present day Balfour Downs Station and as a young woman, travelled up and down large tracts of the 1850km long Canning Stock Route.

In 1963 Bugai, her husband and the extended family group she was with at the time together decided to move to Jigalong Mission. There they joined many other relatives who had already travelled in from the desert following a prolonged and severe drought. They were some of the last Martu to leave the desert.

Bugai now lives in Kunawarritji and it is here she learnt to paint. She was taught to paint by renowned artists Nora Nungabar (Nyangapa) (dec.) and Nora Wompi (dec.). The three women painted together as often as possible. For a long time Bugai wove baskets, watching the other women painting. Later, she explained that she had been uncertain how to begin.

Today Bugai is considered one of the most established Martumili Artists, and is known as a master of colour, gesture and subtlety.

‘Bugai always tells about Wantili [Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25] because she grew up around Wantili,’ Bugai's grandson Cyril Whyoutler said.

Her work Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) 2021 is a beautiful example of her practice and her ability to represent landmarks, water sources, and desert flora through gestural brushstrokes and subtle colour changes.